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PEACE, JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY IN SRI LANKA

by Prof. Asoka Bandarage


(Text of speech given at the World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka Conference, Oslo Norway, August 20, 2004)

PART 1: CURRENT PEACE PROCESS

Practically everyone in Sri Lanka and Sri Lankaís friends abroad desire peace and want the cease fire to hold. There is a consensus that the solution does not lie in a return to armed conflict. Yet, at the same time, the vast majority of the people in the country, Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim, do not want appeasement of terrorism in the name of peace. They want a sustainable peace, a peace that upholds human rights, social justice, political pluralism and democracy.

Mass discontent with the handling of the peace process was a primary reason for the defeat of the previous UNP led UNF coalition at the April 2 elections in Sri Lanka. The peace-at-any-cost approach, the partiality of the Norwegian facilitators towards the LTTE and growing threats to the countryís security and sovereignty were some of the reasons for the opposition to the previous government.

The SLFP led UPFA coalition which came to power at the April elections promised to make the peace process transparent and to fine tune the role of the facilitator. The SLFP, like its coalition partner, the JVP, rejected the LTTEís claim to be the ësole representativeí of Tamils as an undemocratic premise and its ISGA proposal as a blue print for a separate state. The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, even talked of sending the Norwegian facilitators back home given the publicís loss of faith in their neutrality.

Since coming to power, however, Ms. Kumaratungaís UPFA government seems to be following the same path as its predecessor: the appeasement of LTTE terrorism. The Norwegian facilitators and the Scandinavian Monitoring Mission (SLMM) seem to be doing the same. When the LTTE North moved against renegade leader, Karuna, in the East, violating the MOU, the SLMM and the Sri Lankan government turned a blind eye. The continuing military build-up by the LTTE at the strategic harbour at Trincomalee and growing threats to the countryís security have not received much attention either.

The April elections in the North were ridden with widespread violence and fraud on the part of the LTTE. Tamil political parties that tried to contest the elections democratically and international networks such as the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum have called for new elections. However, the legal cases to revoke the April 2004 elections have yet to be taken up in the courts. Violations of human rights and democratic norms by either party óthe Sri Lankan government or the LTTE, must be condemned. The violations have been overwhelmingly by the LTTE, some thousands during the course of the ceasefire. Violation of human rights and democratic norms increased has increased since the April elections. Fratricidal killings between the LTTE Northern and Eastern wings have intensified as have killings of dissident Tamil politicians, intellectuals and Sri Lankan government intelligence operatives in the East and in Colombo. According to some reports, over 100 people from the Tamil political party, the EPDP, have been killed during the course of the cease fire. A suicide bombing took place in July in Colombo, apparently to assassinate the leader of the EPDP. Forcible child conscription has not ceased either. The University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) has charged the UNICEF for being lax with the LTTE concerning child abduction and conscription, especially in the East.

Notwithstanding their on-going violations of fundamental rights of children, universal human rights and democracy, the LTTE demands that its ISGA proposals be accepted as the basis for continued peace talks with the Sri Lankan government. It has refused categorically to include any proposals from the Sri Lankan government as the basis for talks. At the same time, the LTTE threatens to return to war if its conditions are not met. Fearing the resumption of war, the Norwegian facilitators and donor countries, such as Japan, are putting pressure on the Sri Lankan government to return to peace talks on terms laid down by the LTTE.

The current government like the previous one, does not have a clear parliamentary majority. It too is beholden to the TNA (Tamil National Alliance), the political wing of the LTTE that contested the April elections winning 22 seats in the North and the East. Both the previous government and the present government seem also to be influenced by pro-LTTE advisors. In addition, the economy is in dire straits and the government desperately needs the economic aid promised by the international donors on condition that the peace process gets back on track. There is increasing pressure from the international NGO community, the local peace lobby and various think tanks to consider the ISGA proposals in the name of peace.

The ISGA would pave the way to a separate, mono-ethnic, totalitarian state in the North and the East of Sri Lanka. The ISGA proposal contains a clause which calls for an absolute majority in the ISGA for the LTTE. It also contains a clause which stipulates that if a final settlement has not been reached and implemented five years after the adoption of the interim agreement, then, the ISGA would appoint an independent election commission to conduct an election. As a comprehensive critique of the ISGA proposal released by the SLFP pointed out in November 2003, this clause conceals the right to secede.

A realignment of political forces seems to be taking place now in Sri Lanka to accept the seemingly inevitable reality of secession. The President has abruptly resigned from her chairmanship of the UNFPA coalition which releases her from previous positions of her coalition and, perhaps, also her political party, the SLFP. There is talk of the so-called ëmodernistí segments of the SLFP joining with the UNP to save the peace process. If this happens, the JVP, which is opposed to the ISGA and the MOU will be side-lined and many other Sinhala groups, the Muslims and the anti-LTTE Tamil groups will be more and more marginalized. Yet, the ISGA or something very close to it, could possibly be accepted as a political settlement of the conflict.

This may seem like a victory in the short-term. The LTTE will be well on its way to achieving Eelam; Sinhala politicians may be able to maintain their positions and the international community will be able to move in and extract the vast, untapped natural resources of the North and the East and set the economic growth engine rolling.


PART 2: GROUND REALITIES AND FUTURE SCENARIOS

The Sri Lankan situation is interpreted as a primordial conflict between the Sinhala majority and the Tamil minority. The commonality of grievancesof underprivileged youth from both communities - lack of educational opportunities and employment-
have been overlooked by intellectuals and policymakers promoting the dominant ethno-nationalist interpretation. The ëchauvinismí of the Sinhala Buddhists is identified as the main cause of the Sri Lankan conflict while a host of other factors including the desire of a handful of Tamil elites to maintain privileges gained under British colonialism and the contradictions of globalization are neglected. So are the intra-ethnic conflicts and violence within all groups and the common suffering of ordinary people from all ethnic and religious communities. The popularization of a limited perspective that singularly focuses on Sinhla-Tamil antagonism has helped exacerbate ethnic polarization, justify Tamil separatism and win sympathy for the LTTE internationally. The Norwegian peace facilitation is built on this simplistic bifurcated model of cultural dualism and primordial hatred.

The policy prescriptions emanating from the narrow ethno-nationalist perspective call for changes in the historical consciousness of the Sinhala Buddhists and the satisfaction of the aspirations of the Tamil elite including the grant of the ISGA. The transformation of global and local socio-economic structures needed to ease the competition between groups for limited resources, is not called for. Lacking choice, a poor country like Sri Lanka is thus compelled to accept externally imposed economic, political and cultural models and institutions. In this process, the elites of most ethno-religious groups tend to protect their own interests at the expense of the interests of their masses. Thi, of course, is not a situation peculiar to contemporary Sri Lanka.

What, indeed, could be the future for Sri Lanka? Would the current peace process and the possible creation of a separate Tamil totalitarian regime in the North and the East lead to a lasting peace? Or, would it lead to balkanization, increased ethnic cleansing, border wars, population transfers and anarchy? To address this question, we need to look at the social and demographic realities of the island and the North and the East in particular. The regional South Asian context needs also to be considered, although, only a few significant demographic facts can be mentioned here.

There is no accurate accounting of the population in the North and the East of Sri Lanka because the LTTE did not allow the Sri Lankan government to carry out the 2001 census in those regions. According to estimates, including those of the Economist, Sri Lankan Tamils constitute only about 8% of the total population of Sri Lanka.But, the area being demanded by the LTTE constitutes about one-third of the land mass and two-thirds of the coastline and is home to some of the most valuable natural resources of the island.. The political myth of the ëTamil Homelandsí aside, the offer of such a vast area to a tiny group, outside the constitutional and legal democratic processes is dangerous and highly unjustifiable.

Sri has been identified as the tenth most densely populated country in the world. The population density is extremely high in South West while it is very low in the outlying areas such the Eastern Province and parts of the Northern Province (excepting Jaffna). Peasant resettlement programs were begun in the sparsely populated regions of the North, East and North Central Provinces during the British period. These were further extended during the post-colonial period by Sinhala leaders who sought to revive the ancient Sinhala hydraulic civilization in those regions. Tamil nationalists, charge that the settlements were motivated entirely by Sinhala hegemonic interests and this ethno-nationalist interpretation is widely used to legitimate the demand for an exclusive Tamil regime in the North and the East. This limited interpretation, however, overlooks the fact that peasant colonization schemes were largely a response to the demographic and economic problems created by the uneven and unequal nature of colonial development. The acute landlessness and poverty in the densely populated so-called Sinhala areas motivated many Sinhalese to relocate, just as many Tamils from the islandís north as well from South India, came to the Sinhala areas during the course of British colonialism and the expansion of plantation agriculture and commerce. The freedom that has historically existed for any individual from any ethnic or religious group to obtain land or live anywhere on the island, however, will be terminated with the establishment of an exclusive Tamil region in the North and the East.

The injustice and irrationality of the proposed division of the island is compounded by the fact that the majority of Tamils, today, do not live in the North and the East, but, in the so-called South. Many Tamils have fled to the South to live among the Sinhalese during the course of the war. There have not been Sinhala riots against Tamils in the South since the horrific attacks in 1983 which fuelled the Tamil separatist movement.

A further demographic fact that aggravates the injustice of the LTTE demand for a separate state in the combined North and East is that the Tamils are only a minority in the Eastern Province. The Sinhalese and the Muslims together constitute about 68% of the population and the Sinhalese own about 50% of the land in the region. The North and the East also have hundreds of sacred heritage sites, mostly Buddhist. These sites which represent a world historical heritage, could be lost under a hostile regime which is bent on establishing its exclusive claims to those areas. If the Eastern Province is handed to the LTTE, the ethnic cleansing of the Sinhala and Muslim population there could be complete, as it already has been in the Northern Province. There could be a complete elimination of all Tamil dissidents as well.

It is unlikely, however, that the Sinhalese and the Muslims in the East or other parts of the island, for that matter, would passively accept the usurpation of their land and resources by a racist, totalitarian regime. The Sinhalese have a very long history of rebellion against many different types of external domination and it is unlikely that that historical legacy could be completely suppressed.

Muslims have engaged in various acts of civil disobedience in recent months. A hartal to mark the LTTE massacre of 103 Muslim civilians worshipping at a mosque in Kattankudy in 1990, paralyzed most parts of the East this month. (August 2004). There are signs that the Muslim resistance to the LTTE is being internationalized. If a LTTE regime is hoisted upon the Muslims, the resistance could become much worse. The result could be the creation of a separate Muslim administrative unit in parts of the Eastern Province.

In addition, there could be border wars between the LTTE and the south over access to the sources of water originating in the central hill country. There could also be struggles to annex districts in the hill country where Indian Tamil plantation labourers brought by British colonialists now form a majority. Pro-LTTE political leaders of the Indian Tamils have already alluded to these possibilities. The emergence of a Tamil separatist state in Sri Lanka would, undoubtedly, have an impact on South India where over 60 million Tamils live. There would be serious implications for the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of India which has been battling her own secessionist movements. It is likely that creation of a terrorist state in the North and East of Sri Lanka would have global repercussions given the LTTEís world wide networks of illegal economic enterprises and military activities, as well as alleged ties to other terrorist organizations.

PART 3: THE GLOBAL CONTEXT


It is no mystery that in the current world order, economic interests take precedence over human rights and democracy. What is more disheartening, however, is that many intellectuals, the media, local and international NGOs and even so-called peace activists seem also to overlook violations of human rights and democratic principles in their search for quick answers to complex conflicts. These apparent contradictions need to be understood in the context of widening economic inequality and the inter-connections between the increasing wealth and privileges of a global minority and the deepening poverty of the majority. The so-called neo-liberal economic model which promotes corporate led globalization and cultural homogenization contributes to the weakening of local economies, cultures, communities, families and so on. Yet, the resultant conflicts over economic resources are frequently attributed to cultural difference and primordial enmity and are mobilized against cultural others by opportunistic leaders at both the local and global levels.

There is a close relationship between the concentration of wealth in the rich countries in the North and cultural destruction and political fragmentation in the poor countries of the global South. Privatisation, structural adjustment and other policies have contributed to the dismantling of social welfare services and the weakening of nation states. The international NGOs and internationally funded local NGOs step into fill the vacuum. Similarly, they play a determining role in ëpost-conflict reconstructioní, which is a fast growing field of employment for the military, private contractors and the NGOs as well. International Christian NGOs, such as, World Vision and Mercy Corps, are among the largest NGOS managing basic social services and civil sectors in so-called post-conflict and transitional societies. Although the creation of new, ethno-nationalist states has become a lucrative enterprise, many ëpost-conflictí societies have not achieved lasting peace. In fact, in many contexts, such as the Balkans, the creation of primordial nation states may have exacerbated ethnic polarization and extremism and the institutionalization of political violence and insecurity.


PART 4: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE PEACE

Absence of war is not necessarily peace. The peace-at-any-cost approach that seems to be pursued now does not guarantee a lasting peace. To avert a return to war and the emergence of new types of violence and terrorism, a number of important, hitherto neglected issues need to be addressed.

The Sri Lankan conflict is not simply a primordial conflict that can be resolved by the mere grant of a separate ethno-nationalist administration. Ultimately, all those concerned with peace, justice and democracy, Sri Lankans at home and abroad and our friends around the world, including the Norwegians, must try to recognize this. We need broader perspectives that help understand the complexity of the situation and help develop more sustainable solutions. While recognizing the specific problems facing the Tamil community, we must also recognize and address the injustices and grievances of the Sinhala, Muslim and other communities. We must recognize the common suffering of all the people and the stresses and challenges faced by them all in the context of rapid socio-economic and cultural changes and the spread of global terrorism. We must be sensitive to the disproportionate burden borne by the poor and the women and children in particular by the combined pressure of these forces.

To address the complex situation facing the country, we must develop local and international coalitions across ethnic and religious divisions. While recognizing our differences, we must nevertheless come together on a common platform for peace that honors fundamental human rights of all women, men and children, a peace which upholds the long history of political pluralism and mutual co-existence in our country. Instead of leaving the peace process in the hands of just the two parties óthe Sri Lankan government and the LTTE- and the facilitators, more civil society actors need to be engaged in the so-called multi-track diplomacy and peace building, as we are doing here.

We need the support of the influential Sri Lankan Diaspora and the international community to strengthen the emerging international platform for peace and democracy in Sri Lanka . The Sri Lankan Diaspora that has helped perpetuate the conflict must make a positive international contribution to the resolution of the conflict, instead. Expatriates can help by engaging in dialogue within and across the ethnic and religious communities. Instead of promoting the messages of hate and enmity, or sending hard-earned money to buy weapons to continue the killing machine, they can help create a new analyses and messages for peace and democracy. They can send money for alternative economic opportunities for the poor and ensure that the children have a future.

The international community, the donors and the Norwegian facilitators in particular must pressure all parties to the Sri Lankan conflict to abide by the rule of law and the international covenants against the conscription of child soldiers, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant instruments. The LTTE must be required to uphold paragraph 18 of the Tokyo Declaration which was signed by 51 countries and 22 international organizations as part of the Sri Lankan peace process. This paragraph was introduced to ensure the protection of human rights of all people, the termination of child recruitment, balanced and verifiable de-escalation, demilitarization and normalization necessary to arrive at a political settlement.

Norway is considered to be a leading democratic and liberal country in the world. We need the Norwegian media, academic and NGO communities to make their officials facilitating the Sri Lankan peace process accountable. We need Norway to play their rightful role rather than capitulating to terrorist threats. They must be required to uphold the norms of neutrality expected of a third party facilitator. If the Norwegian facilitators take a strong and principled stance in the enforcement of the Tokyo principles, then, there is a chance that the LTTE could also be influenced to change their ways and enter the democratic process. The LTTE is a misguided organization; but, if the human potential and great talents represented by that organization can be put to positive use, Sri Lanka and the world at large would undoubtedly be safer and more peaceful.

Thank you very much.


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